NEW DELHI :
Six months since social media giant Facebook rebranded itself as Meta and announced plans to build a future where the internet will be made of many interconnected virtual spaces, top industry executives are already beginning to lose interest in the concept.
The metaverse, which is built using blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies, among others, drew attention at first but chief executives from top firms don’t see short-term value in it.
A recent report by market research firm Gartner said that while technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) remain impactful for chief executive officers, the metaverse is reported as one of the least interesting areas for top business executives.
In fact, 63% of CEOs see the metaverse as either not applicable or very unlikely to be a key technology for their business.
The survey showed that CEOs consider digitalization and cybersecurity, coupled with workforce issues, such as talent retention and even environmental sustainability, as their top business priorities in the coming quarters.
According to Gartner, a possible scenario could be that, at present, businesses are striving to change the way they function after the global pandemic. And more recently, incidents such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine have amplified macroeconomic factors, prompting CEOs to deal with issues such as costs and inflation.
Mark Raskino, distinguished research vice president at Gartner explained, “In the past, some CEOs have embraced new technology ideas perhaps a little too enthusiastically. In the case of the metaverse, however, it’s doubtful the respondents who think it very likely to be a key technology for their business are as confident as they appear to be.”
He noted that this doesn’t mean that chief executives aren’t focused on digital business practices, which continue to rise.
